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Published: April 26th 2006
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Mt. Guiting-Guiting
I think I could describe Sibuyan as the perfect place Ahhh. Finally internet that works well, expensive but it’s all right with me.
Where do I start… I left Puerto Galera heading to Romblon, a place that wasn’t even in my lonely planet book(a friend recommended) so I had no information on how to get there and ended up traveling all through the night. I enjoyed it though because they sardine you into these Jeepneys and in the day she’s scorching, but nice and cool at night. I have realized now that you really don’t need to do any planning, just tell anyone where you want to go and they send you to the next step of getting there. Travel here takes quite a long time to go a short distance with a combination of Ferries, pump boats, Jeepneys, and tricycles all working together to get you there.
Romblon was quite a trip; I say that using both meanings. I arrived in the city of Romblon, Romblon at 6am accompanied by Ryan and Jun, two previous locals on a vacation home to see friends, family and hike Mt.Guiting-Guiting in Sibuyan (an island 2 hours away). After spending just a few hours with these guys they offered me
to stay at Jun’s seeing as he wasn’t going to be there, I gladly accepted the offer. We grabbed a bite to eat and we’re hanging out when they asked if I’d like to join them. At first I said no because I hade just been traveling for like 16 hours with almost no sleep and wanted to ground myself before doing anything. I also new of a peace core guy (Jeremy) staying there that I was to get a hold of and he happened to be on the mountain at that time. So after meeting a few more of the guys when they asked again saying I wouldn’t have to worry about preparing anything, only bringing some clothes water; I decided to go, and am so glad I did. We had to hire a boat to get us there and it was quite the ride, the dolphins came to entertain us, doing flips and springing out of the water, it was so beautiful, I couldn’t even talk. We stayed the night in Sibuyan and had a 6am start in the morning, which on Pilipino time turned out to be 7am. The hike was 6 hours; we had a guide
Mt. Guiting-Guiting
pic from the bridge (Toto) and 9 of us Ryan, Jun, Gidion, Kris, Joey, Chuck, Bo, Bill and me. There were 3 camps on the way up where we rested, ate and also met Jeremy on his way down. I was really into the hike so decided to stay with the guys and continue up. These guys were so funny, always telling jokes and laughing, half the time I didn’t know what they were talking about but it was nice to be around all the smiling faces and constant laughter. We camped on out at Mayo’s Peak for 2 nights, nobody got to do the summit though because there was really bad visibility, I wasn’t joining that group though anyways. It rained pretty much the whole next day and we just hung out in hammocks and the tents played some cards, ate food and got to know more about each others cultures.
The hike down was a different story for me, it’s so much harder going down, my knees were killing me. I survived it though refusing the offers from the guys to carry my bag, that would be girly, and we were rewarded at the bottom with a nice bath in
the river then a swim at the dam. Being to late to catch the boat back we stayed at Mong’s (a guy we met up with at the top) aunt’s beautiful home in Sibuyan. We ended up going out to a videoke bar and drinking, singing and dancing. So much fun My legs killed for 3 days after.
So after arriving back in Romblon I stayed with Mong and Gidion in there place, above the ice cream shop, and pretty much just hung out for a few days doing BBQ’s at the beaches, birthdays and what not.I also got to do some diving with Jeremy and a company called Sikat. The company works to try and conserve the waters and aquatic life around Romblon. We ended up doing 3 dives in search of these Crown of Thorn, they are like spiky starfish that kill coral. There was an outbreak happening and they needed to be taken out before destroying too much coral. The first 2 dives we never got any but the third we collected a fare amount. In total in ended up costing me like $10 or something. It was a cool experience and I was glad to
be part of something like that. I also got to see a lot of marine life and types of coral I hadn’t see before. Thanks Jeremy.My time there was not all so ideal and great in the end though, a couple of the boys starting “courting” me, this means to pursue me. Being that they were friends and I didn’t want any of it caused a little drama, they were throwing out the love word like it was nothing. What do you do in these situations??? Well me, I bolt, but it really sucked because I was looking at renting a place for a month there and just hanging out with friends. The place was paradise and only $150/ month CND, it was right on the beach about 14km from town and had two extra unattached bedrooms, guitars, bongo drums, a stereo, stove, oven and an outdoor shower. I met a girl Peaches, and we started to spend a lot of time together also, I really miss her now but will see her again before my time in the Philippines is up. She’s a lot more liberated then the rest or the people and I was so nice to hang
with a girl, and she was going to come stay with me there for a while also. I would have loved to do that but I just couldn’t deal with these guys, oh well, I’m sure it happened for a reason. The Pilipino people are so passionate and emotional, they feel everything like 20X more than we (or I), and are not at all shy about expressing there feelings. With there friends, family and everyone, they are affectionate with each other and I think is amazing, they don’t consider it “gay” to walk down the street holding each other or laying together in a hammock. They are not self-conscience, they walk down the street singing at the top of there lungs, they dance, constantly crack little jokes and laugh all the time. I really feel for them and wish we westerners would adopt some or these traits and feel the love too.
So anyways, I left and am now in Boracay, it’s crazy touristy here but I had to get my visa extended. The beaches are really beautiful though and I am enjoying myself. I’ll write about it later.
Here’s how to go
about doing the hike…
Mt. Guiting-Guiting- a must climb I think, you need a guide so go to Magdiwang on Sibuyan Island and get a tricycle to the Bridge and ask around for Todo or a guide for the hike ant the Bridge restraint, you can also stay the night there. It’s P300/day and you feed the guide. Be prepared with warm clothes and camping gear. You can try and arrange it prior, just ask at a tourist center in Romblon.
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Jun
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a great narrative! cool stuff megs.. .
Wow so reminising!.. . . since we had that anxieted hike in Mt. Guiting with the company megan, lots of tiny little talk with us with the blend of tiredness and joy,he!he.. . . a little correction in your' blog. (Mt. Guiting-Guiting) not Mt. Giding-Giding.. . And (TOTO) for the Guide not TODO. Oh Yeah the dolphin's we lost to catch pix, in 2hrs trip romblon to sibuyan coz of all our bakpaks was secured coverd of rain fly to avoid get wet by uncondition movement of water! he!he.. . takecare always megan.. . seeyah agen!